The tobacco industry has been hit by the heaviest declines on record amid otherwise strong economic growth for the nation, the latest figures show.

Treasurer Joe Hockey may have described the national accounts figures released Tuesday as a “terrific set of numbers”, but tobacco and cigarette consumption has taken a dramatic tumble, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Household tobacco consumption and expenditure volume fell 10.1 per cent over the past 12 months, and 17.5 per cent in the past two and a half years, according to the seasonally adjusted data.

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